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SIOUX LOOKOUT, May 8, 2012 – As the province struggles with new economic realities, a top Ontario nursing leader will address nurses’ scope of practice – and how this can help alleviate budgetary pressures – in northwestern Ontario communities.

Doris Grinspun, Chief Executive Officer of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO), will be visiting nurses practising in the Sioux Lookout area this week. Grinspun will thank and commend nurses for their clinical expertise, compassion, and hard work, and will take the opportunity to also call for the removal of roadblocks that are preventing RNs from working to their full capacity. “When Ontario’s RNs are permitted to work to their full scope, Ontarians and the health system will experience improved outcomes, such as faster access, improved clinical outcomes and system efficiencies – especially in rural and remote areas, where access to health care is challenging,” she says.

“We are thrilled to have RNAO’s CEO visit with us and hear firsthand the opportunities and challenges of nurses working in the north,” says Kathleen Fitzgerald, Region 12 Board Representative with RNAO, adding that nurses in this region are key to improving access and delivering quality care.

Grinspun’s visit dovetails with nation-wide celebrations for Nursing Week 2012, running from May 7 to 13, which recognizes and fetes the outstanding contributions RNs make to health care.

While in the Sioux Lookout area, Grinspun will tour a number of local health-care facilities, and will make a presentation to nurses at a Nursing Week dinner. She will discuss nursing in remote and rural parts of the province in tough economic times, and empower nurses to speak out about their experiences. Grinspun will also visit with RN Paddy Dasno, who has been making a statement about the removal of benches in the community by sitting in front of the local courthouse in a lawn chair. This visit will take place on courthouse grounds.

A retired nurses’ tea on May 9 at 2:00 p.m. This will be taking place at William “Bill” George Extended Care, 75 Fifth Ave., Sioux Lookout.

The Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre, where nursing leadership will host a breakfast on Thursday, May 10. Grinspun will tour the new hospital – which has been designated as a Centre of Excellence in First Nations Health – and meet with nurses. This will run from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.

RN Paddy Dasno will meet with Grinspun on May 10 at 10:00 a.m. at the Sioux Lookout courthouse grounds to discuss the removal of benches in the community.

The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional association representing registered nurses in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has advocated for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses’ contribution to shaping the health-care system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve.